At 7:30 pm on the 28th, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Suns: Wang Tiejun, Kenyon Martin, Zhu Fangyu, Josh Howard, Jason Williams
Spurs: Milicic, Luol Deng, Bruce Bowen, Ginobili, Tony Parker
The Spurs, a team in one of the league's smallest markets, don't have many live broadcasts across the country, and this one doesn't have one either.
That is to say, local TV stations will buy the regional broadcast rights of some games, and the rights are sold very cheaply.
As for which games to buy, of course it is based on the influence of the away team. For example, if this opponent is the popular team Suns, of course I will buy it.
The average ticket price for the Spurs is only a few dollars, so the attendance rate is not high. It depends entirely on the visiting team to sell tickets. The home team is not as attractive as the visiting team.
Today was not bad. The Spurs management was very happy. The Suns were visiting and 80% of the tickets were sold.
It was almost eight o'clock, and Lao Wang led four teammates to the players' tunnel. The Spurs had already arrived.
"Old K." Ginobili and others greeted him quickly.
"Hello."
Lao Wang looked at the five of them with a smile and asked, "I've always been curious, which of you is the boss of this team?"
Several people were stunned and shook their heads. Tony Parker said: "Old K, we don't have a boss. The Spurs are a team team."
Lao Wang nodded, thoughtfully.
After David Robinson left the Spurs, he no longer paid attention to this team, but now it seems that he has to pay attention to this young team again.
He looked at a few people again, and when he saw Bruce Bowen, he suddenly pointed at him and said to Zhu Fangyu and others: "You should be careful, especially you, Zhu Fangyu, when you are facing him, you must be careful when shooting jumpers."
, don’t let him step on you, he likes to do that.”
Bowen was stunned and confused, not knowing what Old K wanted to do.
Since his family members knew about their own affairs, Ginobili and others lowered their heads in embarrassment.
Lao Wang continued: "He stepped on Vince Carter's feet in 2003, and then the UFO couldn't fly. Then he stepped on Vince Carter's feet again last year, and a third time a few days ago. This is because he stepped on Vince Carter's feet again in 2003.
Destroy Carter."
"Brother, what should I do if he takes advantage of me?" Zhu Fangyu asked cooperatively.
Lao Wang looked at Bowen coldly and said, "It doesn't matter. If he cripples one of your legs, I will cripple both of his legs."
Bowen's expression changed and he said dissatisfiedly: "Old K, I never did that on purpose. It was all a coincidence. Have you said so?"
"explain?"
Lao Wang shook his head and said, "No, no, no, I can only do it. If you don't believe me, ask the postman."
Bowen's eyes twitched, he lowered his head in frustration, and retreated to the wall.
Lao Wang glanced at Ginobili and others warningly again, and warned: "Don't do anything wrong with my team, otherwise you will not get any good results."
Milicic swallowed dryly and took a step back. Feeling unsafe, he took another step back and pressed against the wall.
Rookie Luol Deng also turned a little pale. Facing the first man in the league, the first man in history, and the most evil villain in the league, the psychological pressure was too great. There was nothing wrong with him. His forehead was already sweating, and
Like Milicic, he retreated to the corner.
Under Lao Wang's strong pressure, Ginobili and Tony Parker also nodded helplessly.
Lao Wang pointed at Bowen again and said with a serious expression: "That is to say, now that I am younger and older, I have become kinder. In the past, I would have done the same as I did with the postman. I would first cripple you and eliminate the danger to my teammates.
"
Bowen was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on his head. He lowered his head and did not dare to be angry.
"Boy, I won't trouble you, do you think I'm very kind now?" Lao Wang suddenly approached Bowen and asked.
"..."
Being approached by Old K's murderous face, Bowen was so frightened that he clung to the wall and forgot to answer.
"Crack!"
Lao Wang suddenly slapped Bowen's Tianling Gai, causing Bowen to fall to the floor, his face hit the floor, and nosebleeds suddenly poured out.
"What the hell, if you don't answer, you don't admit it. You actually think I'm unkind? How am I unkind?"
"Old K?" Ginobili shouted hurriedly.
"What are you afraid of? Would such a kind person like me hit him? I was swatting flies for him. There were flies on his head. Also, I was teaching him how to hit the ball and hit the ball cleanly. Don't do it all in one day.
I only know how to step in and hit dirty balls." Lao Wang said angrily.
"Brother, you're on the stage." Zhu Fangyu shouted softly from behind.
"Coming."
In response, Lao Wang glared at Bowen on the floor and cursed: "Boy, I can tell you clearly that I am targeting you. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the alliance about me."
After saying that, he led his teammates out.
"Bruce, are you okay?"
Ginobili and others looked at each other and had no choice but to pull Bowen up.
"As you know, I didn't want to defend like this. If I didn't defend like this, I wouldn't even have a chance to play." Bowen said with a frustrated and aggrieved look.
"Wipe off the blood first."
"What should I do now? Do I want to appeal?"
"What are you appealing for? Old K's influence in the league is greater now than before. The god of basketball that the league admires will be suspended for a few games at most, but we will offend him to death."
"never mind."
A few people said a few words in a hurry and then appeared.
When Popovich saw Bowen's appearance, his nose was injured and the blood on his face hadn't even been wiped off, he knew something had happened and asked with a straight face: "Bruce, what's wrong with you?"
"It's okay, I just tripped in the locker room and fell to the ground." Bowen shook his head.
"Be careful."
Popovich didn't think much about it. There were so many people injured for no reason in the locker room.
At eight o'clock, the game starts.
The ball jumps and the Spurs attack.
Milicic positioned himself low on the left wing.
After being trained under Popovich for a year, this handsome guy has not yet developed his mid-range and long-range shooting abilities, but he has developed a skill in low-post offense.
He is very flexible, measuring 213 centimeters tall, but very fast. Now in his second season, Popovich is developing his mid-range shooting ability.
In last season, his rookie season, he served as the Spurs' main center, averaging 35 minutes per game, 14.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, and a shooting percentage of 50.5%.
On the right wing, Ginobili began to break through.
His European step is different from Wade's. Wade is a violent European step that combines speed and power. His European step breakthrough is not as fast and violent as Wade's. It is slower, but full of more changes. It can be called
With Wade's serpentine movement, when Wade breaks through, the defender can still predict where his center of gravity is, but when he breaks through, the defender can't see where his center of gravity is at all.
Seemingly moving from left to right, Ginobili easily broke through Josh Howard, then snaked his way again to avoid Kenyon Martin, who was covering the defense, and reached the paint area.
Milicic has not yet grown up, but Ginobili and Tony Parker have grown up and are very good at breakthroughs and three-pointers. The Spurs are now a team that plays from the outside, so the Suns play a three-two zone defense.
Zhu Fangyu in the middle quickly went down to cover up the defense, blocking Ginobili two meters away from the front right side of the basket.
Ginobili twisted his body to the left, but just when Zhu Fangyu was about to move upward, his body suddenly twisted in the opposite direction, and his whole body was twisted into a twist.
"Crack!"
After avoiding Zhu Fangyu, Ginobili picked the basket with his backhand. As soon as the ball was released, before it reached the top, the Suns' last rim protector, Lao Wang, directly confiscated the ball.
The Spurs quickly defended and the Suns attacked.
Lao Wang came to the low post on the left wing and caught the ball and hit Milicic with his back.
Milicic originally had black hair, but he dyed it blond a long time ago. His confrontation ability was not bad, but he didn't dare to face Lao Wang. As soon as Lao Wang started to play from behind, he began to retreat, and as soon as he retreated, he retreated to the basket.
Rookie Luol Deng quickly came from the weak side to help defend, but at this time Lao Wang had already turned around and dunked Milicic. He flew from the side to block the shot, but his jumping ability was average and could not reach Lao Wang's shot height.
"Bang!"
After a strong dunk, Milicic was knocked directly under the basket, and Luol Deng's hand also hit Lao Wang's right forearm.
"Beep!"
The referee's whistle sounded.
"Darko, be tougher and more confident, you can guard him." Popovich's roar sounded from the sidelines.
Milicic gasped and got up from the floor, nodding towards Popovich.
Popovich did not ask Milicic to hit Old K. He knew that such defense would not work. In the entire league, only O'Neal had the tonnage to hit Old K. Others would hit Old K, and only one of them would be knocked over.
result.
He is very satisfied with Milicic's talent and potential, but he doesn't really like this young man's character. He is not very courageous, a bit submissive, and does not have the willpower to dare to fight. He is not the kind of person with strong self-confidence.
Over the past year, in addition to technical and physical training, he has also been using various methods to strengthen Milicic's psychological quality, such as doing some psychological training. There have been great changes, but facing the old K, the psychological quality is still the same.
Not strong enough.
If his psychological quality is not strong enough, he will be easily defeated under Old K's terrifying attack. This is not what he wants.
"Lol, your defense needs to be faster and be there first, do you understand?" He shouted to Luol Deng again.
"Understood, sir."
Luol Deng, who ran towards the frontcourt, loudly replied respectfully.
Popovich is still very satisfied with the Luol Deng he selected this time. Luol Deng's draft template is Grant Hill. His offensive and defensive skills are pretty good, his rebounding ability is also good, he is good at flank offense and defense, but his jumping ability is a bit poor.
His ability to protect the basket from the front is somewhat lacking, but it is enough for a power forward.
The only thing I don't like is that Luol Deng's character is a bit like Grant Hill, a bit more gentlemanly. He prefers players with Bowen's style. The power forward needs to do the dirty work, but now the two inside men are not good at doing the dirty work.
.
In this game, he didn't expect to win, he just hoped that Milicic and Luol Deng could compete with the league's number one player, Old K, to hone their skills and gain experience.
Now that Ginobili and Parker have grown up, the team is still focused on the outside. He hopes that Milicic and Luol Deng can grow up as soon as possible.
He is still satisfied with the current main lineup. The only pity is that Milicic does not have the potential to become a cornerstone, so the Spurs cannot beat the Suns and Trail Blazers. The Nets' traditional center style will have to be outside in the future.
Mainly, like the previous Bulls, with defenders as the core.
In this game, Wang only played 30 minutes. He clocked in three quarters and did not play in the final quarter. He scored 32 points with a shooting percentage of 80%. Second-year Milicic and rookie Luol Deng were completely defeated by him.
Although Ginobili and Tony Parker tried their best and scored 38 points together, they could not keep up with the disadvantage of the inside line and still lost the game.
Although he didn't want to win, Popovich was more or less disappointed. The gap inside was too big. Although the Spurs are now third in the Western Conference, the gap between them and the second-place Suns in the Western Conference is not just a gap in position.
Once they met in the playoffs, with Old K's full performance, the Spurs had no power to resist.
This game made him realize that the current Spurs are not on the same level as the Suns. Old K alone can make the Suns a strong team in the playoffs, but the Spurs cannot, and there is no one who can make the final decision.
When he thought of the person who had the final say, he thought of Tim Duncan. Since acquiring Duncan, the Trail Blazers have become a championship-level team and have never missed the Western Conference Finals all year round. If the Spurs had acquired Duncan...
"If I trade Milicic and Luol Deng for Duncan, would the Blazers be willing to do it?"
This thought suddenly occurred to him and he could never get rid of it.
…
After beating the Spurs, the Suns rushed to New Orleans overnight and will play the Hornets back-to-back tomorrow.
The Charlotte Hornets saw no hope of development in the NCAA's stronghold, so they moved to New Orleans in 2002 and became the New Orleans Hornets. It has been two seasons, but their results are pretty good. They have made the playoffs for two consecutive years after moving.
.
However, the team's core Baron Davis only played 18 games this season because of a heel tendon injury and entered the injured list.
"Old K."
After Lao Wang appeared, Baron Davis, who was sitting in the audience, stood up and greeted.
"Byron, the injury is not serious, is it?"
"It's okay, I need to rest for a while."
Lao Wang noticed that Baron Davis looked depressed and looked unhappy, and asked again: "Are you worried? Are you injured? The team wants to trade you, right? It's not a ruptured tendon, it's a bruise.
What matters?"
Baron Davis said with a wry smile: "Our team's economy is so bad that we have even sold our future draft picks. My contract is huge and they are now preparing to sell me."
"What?"
Lao Wang was startled.
He never thought that the operation of a team could be so miserable.
He patted Davis on the shoulder and comforted: "In this case, just leave. It should be a good thing for you."
The bearded man nodded, his face still looking a little frustrated and helpless.
Although it was back-to-back, the Hornets did not have Baron Davis as their number one player and their strength dropped significantly, but the Suns still won consecutive games.
After this game, the Suns ended all regular season schedules for 2004 and returned to Phoenix the next day.
On January 1, 2005, the league announced the latest MVP ranking list.
The Suns have 22 wins and 7 losses, which is the same record as the Trail Blazers, but the Suns lost to the Trail Blazers, so they are second in the Western Conference.
However, Lao Wang's personal data is much higher than Duncan's, so he still ranks first in the MVP rankings.
From this point of view, the alliance has no longer suppressed him.
Below him is Duncan, and third is Nash.
After two months of hard work, the Knicks' record has become even better and they have reached the top of the Eastern Conference. With Nash averaging 16 points and 11 assists per game, he has entered the top five in the MVP rankings for the first time.
Seeing Nash in third place, Wang said that the effect of Nash leaving the Suns and going to the Knicks is quite obvious. At least if he stays with him, he may never have this day.
The fourth is Eastern O'Neal.
Fifth is Nowitzki.
The sixth is Dayao
Seventh is LeBron James of the Cavaliers.
"I X!"
When he saw seventh place, Lao Wang was a little surprised.
The Cavaliers are currently eighth in the Eastern Conference and may not have a chance to make the playoffs. James averages 27.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 2.2 steals, 0.7 blocks, 3.3 turnovers and 1.8 fouls per game. His personal data is indeed strong, but this is the MVP, and the team record is the most important.
Important data to consider.
"It seems that Stern has abandoned the top four shooting guards and instead favored the No. 1 pick. However, LeBron James is indeed extremely talented. He is only in his second season and should become one of the strongest players in the league in the future."
On this day, the league also announced the start of All-Star voting, which will last for four weeks.
In the afternoon, the Suns flew to Portland.
On the 2nd, for the purpose of training the lineup and young people, Lao Wang did not go all out. The Suns lost again to the Trail Blazers in an away game and firmly ranked second in the Western Conference.
On the 3rd, Trail Blazers general manager Bob Whitsitt suddenly received a call from Spurs general manager Popovich.
The Spurs hope to trade Milicic and Luol Deng for Duncan, one the second overall pick in 2003 and the other the third overall pick in 2004, for the No. 1 overall pick in 1997. In terms of the lottery, they will definitely not suffer a loss.
But Whitsitt refused. Although Duncan is already 28 years old, his condition has been stable for ten years. He is still the same as his rookie season. He will not use such a cornerstone to trade two rookies who have not yet played.
Such a stupid thing.
Of course, if another two years pass, he can consider trading. By then, Duncan will be thirty years old and should have entered the later stage of his career.
On the 4th, the Suns defeated the Timberwolves on the road, and on the 5th, they unexpectedly lost to the Mosaics in back-to-back games.
At noon on the 6th, the team came to Los Angeles, and Kobe took Lao Wang home for lunch.
"Kobe, you are not good at leading a team. You are ranked 12th in the Western Conference. Why, are you planning to win the No. 1 pick?" Lao Wang joked.
"The lineup is not good, our center is not even qualified to attack you, what can I do?" Kobe said unhappily.
At this point, he suddenly said: "Old K, can you tell Yao and ask him to come over and help me?"
"He's here. Do you think you and he can beat me? Do you think it's possible? You two little bastards were both trained by me. I can beat you to death with one hand." Lao Wang said disdainfully.
"Just brag! You're almost 32 years old, how much longer can you play?" Kobe said angrily.
"Let's talk about it in two years. He still has two years of contract. After finishing this contract, I will ask him to come over and help you." Lao Wang said.
"It's a deal," Kobe said quickly.
Although there are still two seasons left, it is better than no hope. The current center in the league, besides O'Neal, is Yao.
